Chapter 5 Rocks Rifted, a Waterfall Flowed

Tracing a Woman’s Doctoral Trek

In: Different Perspectives, Different Cultures, Different Places
Author:
Umme Salma
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Abstract

What is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)? Simply, a study at the highest level. But why do we need the highest level, when a mid-level education helps earning and living happily? This “But why” question chased me throughout my doctoral journey. I asked myself repeatedly, “Why do I want to complete a doctorate?” and “What if I become a doctor?” Therefore, I want to tell my doctoral story. For me, sharing the story is not only a quest for myself, but a prompt for readers interested in the doctoral journey to think about the life of a doctoral student. I will share my aspirations and motivations for undertaking a doctorate; why “the ‘whys,’ ‘buts,’ and ‘ifs’” arose in my journey; and whether my doctorate was a luxurious commodity bought at a huge tangible and intangible cost. In narrating my story, I follow an autoethnographic approach and engage with gender, migration, and transnationality theories to set the contexts of my story. And, with the eyes of my heart, I imagine my journey as the flow of falls over big and small, sharp, and blunt rocks—a metaphor that struck me when I visited a Melbourne falls during my study.

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Different Perspectives, Different Cultures, Different Places

The Experiences of International and Domestic Students Studying in an Australian University

Series:  The Doctoral Journey in Education, Volume: 2